


the joy that comes from the impossible

by asael



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Concussions, Cryptozoology, F/M, Injury, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-04-24
Packaged: 2020-01-31 08:11:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18587254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asael/pseuds/asael
Summary: When distinguished cryptozoologist Richard Campbell Gansey III is given a video of a yeti, he decides to drag his best friend Ronan along on a trip to the Himalayas. Which would be fine, except Gansey's also invited a cute new girl he just met... and Adam Parrish, who Ronan maybe has a thing for. And who maybe hates him in return. This is going to be a great trip.





	the joy that comes from the impossible

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to [Maya](https://ganseyboii.tumblr.com/), who betaed this and also suggested the title! I'm terrible at titles, so I owe them my life.
> 
> Also please appreciate and admire [this lovely art](https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwo_Nc9l1lB/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=byyfrbbmt22n), made by Wintts, who is incredibly talented.
> 
> I had a great time writing this, and my team was fantastic! Thanks to everyone who reads, I hope you enjoy it!

“It’s real, I’m certain of it.”

Ronan peered at the shaky video, deeply skeptical. “It’s someone wearing a gorilla suit, just like all the others.”

“No, Ronan -” Gansey did something on his computer, tapping a few buttons to enlarge the video. Ronan watched the furry brownish blur wander across the screen again. It still looked like a guy in a gorilla suit, just bigger this time. He groaned and leaned his chair back, balancing it on two legs.

“Still looks fake to me. You actually believe this guy? I know they say weed’s harmless, but too much of that shit can fry your brain, man.”

The guy sitting across the desk from them, blond and fidgety, frowned.

“No way,” he said. “Weed opens up your mind, makes you smarter, more observant. Also I swear that thing was real. I saw an _actual yeti_. The video just sucks because I got freaked out since it was, y’know, an actual yeti.”

Ronan shuffled through the papers on Gansey’s authentic 18th century mahogany desk, knocking an authentic 18th century silver paperweight in the shape of some kind of bird onto the floor.

“All right, _Noah_ ,” Ronan said, having found the sheet with the guy’s name on it. “I don’t know what kind of scam you’re pulling, but we’re definitely not gonna pay you for a video this crappy.”

He had to be the careful one, because Gansey wouldn’t be. Ronan didn’t know how much of his money he’d pissed away on unverified videos and obviously fake tips. He’d even funded a few other ‘cryptid researchers’, sending them on expeditions - only to, invariably, find that they’d either come up with nothing or wasted his money on enriching themselves.

Of course, it wasn’t like Gansey couldn’t afford it. Ronan had definitely let him make plenty of terrible financial decisions because it was funny (and encouraged a few himself). It was more the principal of the thing.

Gansey was his best friend, and as entertaining as it had been at first, Ronan was getting sick and tired of watching people try to scam him.

But then Noah blinked, confused, and said, “Oh, I don’t want any money.”

“What?” Ronan said, and Gansey beamed.

“Yeah, my mom worked on your mom’s campaign and she remembered her saying that you’re really into cryptids and stuff. I just figured you’d wanna see it.” Noah waved his hand carelessly, dismissing the concept of money entirely. “Cause it’s _Bigfoot_.”

“Bigfoot is simply another name for the sasquatch, which live in the Pacific Northwest. The yeti is another creature entirely, living in the Himalayas, though it’s possible - even likely - that they’re related, given the similarities. However, sasquatch are found in forests, and as we can see from your video, this yeti was found in the mountains. Where did you say, exactly?” Gansey leaned forward, dividing his attention between the blurry video on the screen and Noah himself.

Noah shrugged. “I can show you.” He leaned forward, starting to unfurl one of the maps he’d brought, when Gansey reached out and stopped him.

Ronan wasn’t sure he liked the look of excitement in Gansey’s eyes. That look only appeared when Gansey had what he considered to be a brilliant idea. It did not bode well.

“Why don’t you show me… in person?”

Oh, fuck.

***

Preparing for the trip took more time than Gansey had initially anticipated. As it turned out, he couldn’t just drop everything and jet off for a jaunt in the Himalayas - and after he’d thought about it for a bit, he didn’t want to. He had been on a few cryptid hunting trips before, but none so far afield. A week in Puerto Rico searching for chupacabras and a visit to Point Pleasant to research the Mothman didn’t hold a candle to jetting across the world to the Himalayas.

Plus, he thought this might be it. The video was blurry, yes, and not as convincing as he might have wished for, but Noah seemed entirely believable, if flighty. If Gansey was really going to find one of the cryptids he’d been searching for for so long, this would be it. He could feel it in his bones.

And if this was going to be it, he needed more backup than just Ronan. That was why he was here, being buzzed into the lab of BioGenTech Medical Research. He hadn’t been there in awhile - visiting Adam at work, while interesting, was hard to arrange - so it took him a moment to orient himself.

The long white hallways and staircases were similar enough that he was worried about getting lost, which turned out to be a very wise thing to worry about. Eventually Gansey gave up and stopped the nearest employee.

“Excuse me. Do you know your way around here?”

The woman he stopped frowned at him. “I work here, why wouldn’t I?” Her tone was not pleased, and Gansey supposed that had indeed been a bit of an odd question.

“Oh, I just thought you might be an intern.” It had seemed like a reasonable guess, given her height, though now that Gansey looked at her she seemed about his age, and therefore certainly old enough to be an employee.

She was very pretty, too. Gansey found himself quite charmed by her hair, short and wild and held back with colorful clips.

She was even pretty when she scowled. “Oh, sure, like I haven’t heard that before. You know, STEM fields are sexist enough without assholes like you helping make it harder for women by assuming we’re not real scientists.”

That hadn’t been what Gansey had meant at all, though now that she said it, he realized his previous remark could have been seen in that light. How careless of him, how incredibly rude. “Oh - no, that’s not what I -”

“I ought to let you wander until the security guards get suspicious and kick you out,” she said with some more-or-less righteous indignation. “But if you ruin someone’s research I’ll feel bad. What are you looking for?”

It seemed he would be unable to redeem himself, at least not that easily. But even so, Gansey brightened, pleased that she was willing to help him despite his faux pas. “I’m looking for an employee here. Adam Parrish.”

The pretty girl squinted at him, somewhere between suspicion and disbelief. “In that case, never mind. I’m not letting another headhunter bother him. Are you from SysTech? Didn’t you guys just send someone last week? Take a hint.”

Gansey looked down at himself. He supposed he had dressed rather nicely - suit and tie, perfectly tailored - but that was because he was meeting his mother for dinner after this. If he showed up at the restaurant looking a mess, he’d never hear the end of it.

But he could see how she’d gotten the wrong idea.

“Not at all,” Gansey said, smiling at her, willing her to smile back. It didn’t work. “We’re friends - we met when we were in school together. At Harvard.”

Where Gansey had pursued a history degree before being distracted by the cryptozoological mysteries that were his life’s blood. Where Adam, clever and ambitious, had been an overworked double major with dreams of medical school. Gansey had fond memories of late nights spent coaxing Adam out of the library with coffee, regaling him with stories of his latest research over terrible hamburgers at a late night diner.

They still met for lunch sometimes, and Adam came to Gansey’s parties when he could, but it had been far too long since they’d really done anything together. It had been some time since they’d even managed to meet up.

It was time to change that.

“You do seem like a Harvard sort,” the woman said grudgingly. “Fine, but if this turns into another stupid attempt to recruit him, I’m kicking you out myself.”

Pleased, Gansey followed her down a hallway, and then another, and then up a staircase, and then through a few more twists and turns. It seemed that Adam wasn’t in his lab, but rather his office, and when they arrived at the door - which said ‘Adam Parrish’ on the nameplate outside - the short woman tapped imperiously, waiting for a quiet reply before letting them in.

Inside was Adam Parrish, slim and dusty, his hair a little messy and weariness evident in the lines of his face. He looked up from the computer terminal in front of him, and Gansey was deeply gratified to see the look of pleased surprise that crossed Adam’s face at the sight of him.

“Gansey,” he said, and stood, coming around the desk. “It’s been too long.”

“Yes,” Gansey said, knocking his knuckles against Adam’s, a youthful gesture that always brought back memories of their college days. “You missed my New Year’s party.” He meant it as nothing more than a gentle admonishment, but Adam winced.

“And it’s February already. Sorry. I’ve been so caught up in things here. I should have called.”

That was how it tended to be with Adam, and why Gansey took it upon himself to drag him out of his lab from time to time. They worked him too hard, or maybe he worked himself too hard - he always had, and while Gansey used to fight him on it, he’d long since given up.

He wanted Adam to be happy, treasured those moments when the stress seemed to lift from him, but that stress had been there since the day they met. Since before. Gansey learned why, once Adam had grown to trust him - a violent father, an uncaring mother, a ceaseless drive that was the only thing that kept him alive. 

He didn’t understand. It simply wasn’t possible for Gansey to understand something like that, though it had taken him years of friendship before he accepted it. He didn’t understand, but he could support Adam, could be the sort of friend who sometimes took the weight from his shoulders, who pulled him from his work or took him to parties or simply talked about things _besides_ work over lunch once in awhile.

Theirs wasn’t Gansey’s oldest friendship - that would be Ronan, of course - but it was once that Gansey valued deeply.

The weariness evident in the set of Adam’s shoulders was enough to tell Gansey that he’d done the right thing, coming here.

“So you actually do know him,” the woman who’d brought him there said. Her arms were crossed and she didn’t look any more welcoming than she had before, but the firm lines of her lips had softened just a bit now that Gansey had proven himself.

“Sorry,” Adam said, glancing between them, the barest of smiles on his face and then gone again. “This is my friend Gansey. We went to college together.”

“Richard Campbell Gansey III,” Gansey said, smiling at her again. It still seemed to have no effect, but he very much wanted it to.

“Blue Sargent,” she said.

“What an odd name.” Gansey was charmed - it’s possible had been charmed from the beginning, and now he was really regretting the clumsy way they’d begun their acquaintance.

“Not really,” Blue said, bristling, and Adam thankfully intervened before Gansey could shove his foot any further down his throat.

“Blue and I worked together on a project a few months ago. She’s an ecologist, she’s very smart.”

Blue narrowed her eyes at him as if she was aware that Adam was trying to smooth things over, but she allowed it anyway, only letting out a soft ‘hmph’ instead of whatever she’d been planning to eviscerate Gansey with.

Gansey was the tiniest bit sorry about that.

“What brings you here, Gansey? It must be important, or you would have called.”

Right. He was here for a reason.

“That’s right,” he said. “I’m going to Nepal, and I wanted to invite you along.”

Surprise was clear on Adam’s face, and Gansey launched into the story - Noah Czerny’s video, his certainty that it was real, his desire to finally investigate something like that for himself. 

“- and I thought you might be interested in accompanying me. You told me once that you’d never been outside the country except for work conferences, and besides, it would be awfully useful to have a doctor with us. Just in case.”

“That’s not really the kind of doctor I am,” Adam said, but he hadn’t said no. He was thinking, his brows furrowing in that way they always did, familiar and endearing. “I shouldn’t leave my work -”

Blue scoffed. “Please. They’re overworking you - it’s about time they gave you a vacation. I’ve been telling you that for months now. Plus, it’ll give you a little time to think.”

There was something meaningful in the way she said that, in the quirk of her eyebrow. Gansey set that thought aside to deal with later. Right now, convincing Adam was what mattered.

“Even if we don’t find it, it’ll be a worthwhile journey,” he said. “Those mountains! Just think of the crisp, clean air, the rustic living - it’ll let us see another side of the world. Come on, Parrish. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

“Typical rich boy third world tourism,” Blue said. “You know that _rustic living_ is people’s actual lives, right?”

Gansey looked at her, struck with a sudden and deeply pleasing bolt of inspiration. “And you ought to come along as well, Miss Sargent.”

Blue stared at him. “We literally _just_ met.”

Adam bit his lip the way he sometimes did when he was suppressing laughter. “When you put it that way, it’s hard to say no. Come on, Blue, I’ll go if you do. We could both use a vacation.”

Blue looked between them, disbelieving, before shaking her head. “I don’t want to believe you’re serious, but I think you are. Fine. Let’s all make some stupid decisions.”

Gansey beamed. “Top shelf! I’ll send you all the details once we’ve settled on them. Don’t forget to buy some new hiking boots!”

“Gansey,” Adam said, as if he’d just thought of something. “Is Lynch coming?”

“I can’t exactly leave him behind,” Gansey said, aware that he sounded apologetic.

“Ah,” Adam said, and nothing more.

***

Of course Gansey had invited Adam fucking Parrish. Ronan didn’t know why he’d even imagined any other possibility. He was always finding excuses to invite Adam over, drag him along on outings, coax him out of his little nerd castle.

And now he was coming along on this yeti trip. Weeks spent in close proximity.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

He slouched on one of the multiple comfortable couches littering Gansey’s fancy apartment, eyes narrowed, watching Adam deep in conversation with Gansey. Their heads were bent over Gansey’s tablet as they discussed the logistics of traveling into the Himalayas.

“I thought you wanted this to be a small expedition. If we bring all this recording equipment, we’re going to need to hire a lot of extra people to bring it. How much do you really need?” Adam’s hair was hanging in his eyes, his long fingers impatiently pushing it back as it got too annoying.

Ronan tuned out whatever Gansey’s reply was. He didn’t care how many people went or how much crap they lugged along, since he had no intention of carrying any of it. His eyes stayed on Adam instead, gaze heavy, and Adam knew he was watching. He’d already glanced up once and caught Ronan at it, brows lowering in disapproval. Or disinterest. Or just annoyance.

Adam Parrish didn’t like him. This was probably because Ronan had spent the majority of their time around each other being a colossal asshole to him.

In Ronan’s defense, the first time they’d met had been at a bad point in his life. His parents had died when he was a teenager, he’d gone off the rails, and only Gansey’s help and a lot of luck had gotten him through those dark years more or less intact. He’d been recovering, though, doing better bit by bit - and then Gansey had left for college, and Ronan hadn’t followed.

He’d never wanted to, but he hadn’t really wanted Gansey to, either. He’d wanted their teenage years to last forever, he’d wanted neither of them to ever have to grow up and get their own lives.

But Gansey had, and he’d gotten new friends, and whenever he and Ronan talked (which wasn’t often, because Ronan hated phones), it was all about _Adam Parrish_. How smart he was, how driven, how impressive. All the things Ronan wasn’t. All the things that fit Gansey’s new life.

So Ronan was getting replaced, or felt like he was, and Gansey was getting a new best friend. And he’d been pissed, and an asshole about it, and then Gansey had talked him into a visit to their fancy-ass college and he’d finally met Adam.

And that was so much fucking _worse_ , because Adam Parrish was smart, and driven, and impressive. 

And incredibly, upsettingly, attractive.

So Ronan had been a huge asshole to him, and much to his displeasure Adam had not been intimidated. It would have been so much better if he’d had, if he’d crumpled under Ronan’s scathing barbs and hostile silences, but no. Adam Parrish had a backbone of steel and was completely unwilling to take Ronan’s shit.

Ronan couldn’t write him off as weak, or stupid, or unfit to be Gansey’s friend. He couldn’t write Adam off, period, and it only made him a shittier person.

Gansey had been deeply disappointed that they didn’t get along, apparently having hoped for an instant connection or some shit. But Ronan was not comfortable with his own response to Adam Parrish, and he’d made it clear to Gansey that they would never be friends, and, well...

By the time he’d gotten his head out of his ass and realized that it was colossally fucking idiotic to treat Adam like that merely for the crime of being a walking Ronan Lynch wet dream, it was too late.

Gansey had done his best to keep them separated - easy, since Adam and Gansey were at college together and Ronan was on his family farm, working on a slowly burgeoning art career and taking care of the cows. When they did run into each other on Ronan’s occasional visits or when Adam came to the Ganseys’ for holidays, Ronan would say something shitty and relations would turn hostile.

(Even now, Ronan remembered with shame that first Thanksgiving at the Gansey estate. “What, no family of your own, Parrish? Or you just too busy social climbing to say hi to mom and dad?”

The silence had been deafening, and later, when Gansey had pulled him aside to quietly explain that Adam had no family to visit anymore - in fact, had a restraining order against his father - it had almost been enough to make Ronan apologize.

He’d wanted to. He’d just been too adolescent and stupid to do it. Just one of many regrets from the teenage years of Ronan Lynch.)

Now, years later, Ronan had moved to the city. He saw Gansey almost every day, Adam lived and worked not so far away, but still they avoided each other.

Ronan was pretty sure it was too late to fix things between them, even if he knew how. So he’d given Adam plenty of space, and Adam had done the same for him, and everything had been fine. So what if Ronan still thought Adam was one of the most attractive people he’d ever met (and smart, and tough, and -). Any chance he’d had there he’d burned down years ago, and it was probably better that way.

But now this.

“If you stare long enough, do you think he’ll realize you’re meant to be?”

“Fuck off, Cheng,” Ronan said, turning to look at Henry Cheng, now draped over the back of the couch next to him.

“I will happily do so,” said Henry, “but you know it’s impossible for me to ignore those pining looks of yours.”

They weren’t _pining_. Also Ronan had no idea how Henry, of all people, had figured out his thing for Adam. No one else knew, but somehow Henry had realized it only moments after watching Ronan and Adam in the same room together at one of Gansey’s parties a year or so back.

He hadn’t shut up about it since. The only reason Ronan hadn’t murdered him and shoved his body in a woodchipper was that he’d never breathed a word of it to anyone else.

Still, sometimes that was tempting anyway.

He turned his glower on Henry, amping it up a notch. How the fuck did Gansey always manage to make friends with people who were immune to his clearly threatening aura? “Fine. Then I’m gonna throw you off the balcony.”

“We’re five stories up,” Henry said, sounding entertained by the idea. “I would scream all the way down. It would be very unpleasant for everyone.”

“Henry!” Gansey said, only just noticing him. “There you are. What are you two talking about?”

“Only the greatest cryptid of all,” Henry said. “Ronan’s love life.”

Ronan shoved himself off the couch, showed Henry his middle finger in a casual display of camaraderie, and stalked into the kitchen, aware of Adam’s eyes following him.

The short woman was in there. Adam’s friend, the one Gansey was so into. Normally Ronan would probably have forgotten her name, but ‘Blue’ was a pretty difficult name to forget. She was making coffee. Ronan peered at the bag on the counter, some hippie brand he’d never seen before. Not the kind of thing Gansey bought.

“What’d you do with Gansey’s shit?” he asked, wanting a distraction. Wanting to forget how Adam had watched him before he did something stupid like read too much into it.

“Threw it out,” Blue said briskly. “I’m not drinking anything that isn’t fair trade. You rich assholes know the people working those coffee farms are basically slaves, right?”

“The suffering makes it taste better,” Ronan said, snagging one of the cups she’d filled. It was actually good, though he resolved not to show his enjoyment.

“Don’t cut yourself on that edge,” Blue said, rolling her eyes. Ronan liked her.

He’d met some of Gansey’s girlfriends in the past, but he’d never seen Gansey this enamoured of someone. Blue was different than the girls he’d dated before, less polished, far more prickly. She wasn’t going to let him get away with anything. Gansey seemed to enjoy that as much as any of her less abrasive qualities, which figured. Some men were just gluttons for punishment.

He could hear Adam’s voice from the kitchen, the soft tones of it. He rarely spoke loudly, though he could be sharp when needled - as Ronan knew.

He tried not to listen.

Henry stuck his head through the kitchen doorway. “Bluebird! There you are.” Somehow he and Blue had become friends almost instantly upon meeting the week before. “I have a colorful array of tents for you to choose from.”

Unable to accompany them on the trip due to a prior lecture commitment, Henry had immediately insisted on ‘sponsoring’ Blue. She wasn’t obscenely rich, and couldn’t be expected to pay for the kind of gear needed for a trip like this on such short notice. She’d seemed happy enough to accept the help, unlike Adam, who had flatly refused and would not budge.

“Noah said I should pick something with glitter. Got anything?” Blue shoved a cup of coffee into Henry’s hands, though Ronan did not think he needed any caffeine.

“An interesting thought. I’m not sure they make glittery tents, though now I think I absolutely must find out as soon as possible.” Henry smiled in pleasure at the taste of the coffee, then nodded at Ronan. “They’re nearly done finalizing our itinerary in there. Have you got everything you need? Sounds like you’ll all be leaving next week.”

“I’m set,” Ronan said with a shrug. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone camping with Gansey. It wasn’t even the first time he’d gone off chasing some myth, though this was the furthest they’ve ever gone. 

Ronan was mostly in it for the adventure. Like Gansey, he was rich enough that he didn’t need to work. Unlike Gansey, he didn’t have an overwhelming obsession that made him want to work anyway. He had his art - which he was doing pretty well with, honestly - and his family’s farm, where he returned whenever he got sick of the city.

But he got restless sometimes, and that’s when Gansey’s obsession was useful. Instead of driving too fast and drinking too hard, he could go off on some wild goose chase. Sometimes conditions were extreme, sometimes it was a little dangerous, but most often it was just a change of scene.

He hadn’t been particularly restless recently. He hadn’t been feeling like he needed a change of scene. But as soon as Gansey had suggested it, Ronan had started to like the idea. Somewhere completely different. Mountains, cold air, people who were nothing like the stuck-up city dwellers he saw every day.

He’d never seen the Himalayas. 

But with Adam Parrish along, he wasn’t sure he’d have the mental bandwidth to focus on the mountains.

Henry was watching him, his eyes just a little too sharp. Ronan scowled. 

“Fuck off, Cheng.”

Blue looked at them both like they were idiots. “I don’t know what this is about, and also I don’t care. Drink your coffee and let’s get planning, Henry.”

Ronan drained his own coffee in one long swig, then stalked out of the kitchen, ignoring Gansey’s attempt to get his attention. He was going to find Noah Czerny - somewhere in Gansey’s house, supposedly also preparing to leave with them but more likely napping somewhere - and kick his ass at pool again.

He was going to enjoy his personal space while he could, and he wasn’t going to think about anything stupid.

Or maybe he could use the time to figure out a way into Adam Parrish’s good graces -

Ronan stopped himself. He was already thinking about something stupid. This wasn’t going to be easy.

***

Adam hated planes. He always had, and frankly he hadn’t been on enough plane trips in his life to even begin getting over it. At first that was because he couldn’t afford it, then it was because work was too pressing. He’d gone to a few conferences in the past (not letting on that the first one was also the first time he’d stepped foot on a plane), but that was it.

All of which was to say he was not looking forward to a 20 hour flight. 

His bag was shoved under the seat in front of him, his seatbelt securely fastened, and all he could hope for now was that he was able to sleep. And, of course, that the plane didn’t fall out of the sky and kill them all.

This leg, at least, was not a full flight. He could see Gansey further down the row, with Blue and Noah between them. They’d spread out as much as they were able, given their seat assignments.

Adam was fully aware that both Gansey and Ronan could have easily afforded first class tickets. (Hell, Gansey’s family probably had a private plane stashed somewhere.) But here they were, back in coach because Adam and Blue could not afford that and refused to take their money.

Part of Adam was annoyed. Part of him was grateful. Most of him was just glad to have something to focus on besides being stuck in a tube full of strangers hurtling through the air.

Adam was on the aisle, because having a little space to move helped. In the same set of seats, up against the window, was Ronan. He’d insisted on a window seat, Adam remembered, though Adam didn’t know why anyone would _want_ to stare down at the ground below them. Or worse, the ocean.

The plane began to move. Adam gripped his armrests. Takeoffs and landings were always the words, because statistically that was when they were most likely to crash. Doomsday scenarios ran through Adam’s head, and he focused on his breathing. Once they got into the air it would be better.

He was counting his breaths (in, out, in, out) when Ronan kicked his foot. 

Adam ignored him.

Ronan kicked him again.

Adam did not actually want to know what Ronan’s problem was. Ronan’s problem always seemed to be _him_ , even though Adam didn’t know what he’d done to get on Ronan’s bad side in the first place. It had been years ago, and all Adam remembered was being introduced to Gansey’s friend from home and getting a standoffish scowl and blank disinterest in return.

Adam had never been great at making people like him. That was one of the reasons he’d gone into research medicine rather than a private practice - his bedside manner was terrible. But even so, he couldn’t remember saying or doing anything to piss Ronan off.

Not _then_ , anyway. That had come later, after he realized Ronan wasn’t even planning to give him a chance. Then he’d responded to spite with spite, replied to Ronan’s shitty comments with his own needles.

Adam regretted that, honestly. Ronan seemed to have chilled out over the years, and Adam knew that he himself had, but he didn’t know how to go about mending things. Or if he even wanted to.

Ronan made better eye candy than conversation, after all.

Adam cracked an eye open. He hadn’t been aware he’d closed them. “What?”

For a moment Ronan looked surprised, like he hadn’t expected Adam to acknowledge him. Which was ridiculous, because it was impossible not to acknowledge Ronan, even though most of the time he seemed like he couldn’t stand to be around Adam. He just took up so much _space_.

Metaphorically, but physically too. His long legs easily stretched past the seat between them.

“Just stretching out,” Ronan said, kicking Adam’s foot again as he moved. By accident, apparently, though it was hard for Adam to buy that.

“You’re not the only person on this plane, you know.” Just then the wheels left the ground, that sudden weightless feeling of flight sending a wave of anxiety through Adam.

Ronan kicked him again. This time it was definitely on purpose. “Whoops,” he said, making no attempt to sound innocent.

Adam was aware that Ronan was a grown adult, only a few months younger than him. He even knew when Ronan’s birthday was, thanks to Gansey, so he was well aware that Ronan was not actually a bratty five-year-old.

He just wasn’t sure he believed that.

“If you can’t keep your feet to yourself, change seats. I’m sure you can find someone who wouldn’t mind playing footsie with you,” Adam said, unable to keep his voice from getting a little sharp. He had not been looking forward to spending this entire trip with someone who obviously hated him. They’d barely left the ground and Ronan had already started to go out of his way to be a dick.

“You change seats,” Ronan said, and Adam briefly considered it. But that would be letting Ronan win, which he would absolutely not allow.

It was possible that Ronan wasn’t the only bratty five-year-old in this row.

Adam did manage to resist the urge to kick Ronan in return. Instead he moved his feet, bestowing Ronan with a disdainful look. Ronan responded with a sharp grin that should have been obnoxious, except he was so handsome that it came off as sly instead.

Adam took one brief, indulgent moment to regret that one of the most attractive men he knew was also one of the biggest pricks. It wasn’t the first time he’d thought that.

He turned away, refusing to get drawn into an argument or anything else. They were stuck on this plane together for a very long time, and after that they’d be stuck in the mountains together. He couldn’t exhaust his store of dealing-with-Ronan-Lynch energy so soon.

The intercom chimed, letting them know they were now at cruising altitude. Digging through his backpack, Adam retrieved his tablet and turned it on, loading up a bit of light reading, a medical journal submission he’d promised to proofread for one of his colleagues.

He’d barely had time to focus on his anxiety in the face of Ronan’s need to be irritating, and now they were in the air, where he could occasionally forget how far above the ground they were.

If only Ronan had meant to do that, Adam might have been willing to think a little bit better of him.

***

Blue had always wanted to travel. She’d grown up in the sort of family that loved each other deeply, but tended to shop at thrift stores for reasons besides their personal aesthetic, so though she’d always wanted to travel, it had never been financially feasible until very recently. Even now, the student loans that she was still paying off meant she couldn’t exactly travel in style.

But she’d never wanted to travel in style. She just wanted to travel.

And now she was, and it was incredible. 

Nepal and the Himalayas had been somewhere on Blue’s dream destination list, but not at the top of it. Now that she was here, though, she realized she had been a fool.

It was beautiful. The clear air, the mountains, the people. She knew well that a huge part of the economy here was based on tourism, so there was plenty of incentive to be kind to them - but still, it felt genuine.

They’d spent their first night after arrival in a hotel, adjusting to the time change, but since then they’d only slept in small teahouses. Noah’s trek had been off the usual paths, thanks to a friend searching for ‘spiritual enlightenment’, so soon enough they wouldn’t even have that. It would be tents and dinners cooked over a fire and no one for miles around.

Blue could barely contain her excitement.

And the company - well, the company wasn’t that bad.

She hadn’t thought much of Gansey when they’d first met. Too polished, too perfect, too _rich_. But his obsession with cryptozoology made all of that more palatable, because to be honest, it was kind of cute.

Blue had never much cared about Nessie or Mothman or whatever. She’d grown up in a house full of women who did psychic readings for money, so she had both an appreciation for the impossible and a healthy dose of skepticism. But hearing Gansey go on about the possibilities, about the magic of _actually seeing_ a yeti - it was hard not to get drawn in.

He was charming sometimes, but stuck his foot in his mouth far more often than Blue would have expected from someone with a surfeit of natural charm. She was starting to think it wasn’t natural, exactly, that his true self was the excitable, inspiring, obsessive researcher rather than the charming rich man. It was - appealing in a way that she didn’t want to think about too much. She had a hard time paying attention to anyone else when he was nearby.

So Gansey was all right. Noah was a delight, making even the most tedious hike fun - not that they were ever tedious, not with these mountains around them. Adam was Adam, an old friend, practical and smart and always ready with a keen observation.

And Ronan was an asshole.

Blue liked him.

Adam had not warned Blue about him, not in those words, but he hadn’t needed to. She’d heard the name Ronan Lynch before, after all, when he’d done something particularly shitty and Adam needed to vent to someone who wasn’t Gansey. It wasn’t really in Adam’s personality to do that often - he was always the sort to keep things to himself - but there had been more than one occasion in college when Blue had received an angry text about something awful Ronan had said.

As it turned out, he did say shitty things, but a lot of them were funny, too. He came across as intimidating and angry, but Blue had never allowed herself to be intimidated by that sort of standoffishness, and she could see how much he valued Gansey. He was unnecessarily tall, but then so was Adam, and she didn’t hold that against him.

And Blue had seen him looking at Adam once or twice in a way that did not imply hatred. Not at all. But if Adam hadn’t figured that out, it wasn’t her secret to tell.

They were hiking now, heading out into the mountains. _Really_ into the mountains, for all that they’d technically been in them for a while now. The last night had been their final night at a teahouse, nestled in a small, poor village. It was already not somewhere tourists often came, clearly, but they had been welcomed and cared for. 

And now it was time for the real part of their journey. When they stepped away from supposed ‘civilization’ and went searching for Gansey’s legend.

Blue had never cared much for civilization anyway.

She was hiking just behind Ronan, listening to the soft sounds of Adam and Noah talking behind her. Ahead was Gansey, leading the way. Around them was - nothing. Everything.

The mountains loomed high overhead, stark and beautiful. Blue had seen mountains before, but nothing like this. They rounded a ridge, and the vista before her took her breath away. That seemed to happen every time. There was no end to the beauty found here.

She was glad she had come. Sometimes she needed to remember this, that there were impossibly beautiful places in the world. Places humans had not yet ruined.

“This doesn’t even deserve to be called a path,” Ronan grumbled, apparently not as overcome by beauty as Blue.

“Goat herders use it,” Gansey said, which seemed about right for the rocky, barely-there path they were on. “I asked in the final town. People come out here regularly.”

“But none of them wanted to come out here this time? That’s fucking fishy.”

Blue had to agree. Gansey had tried to hire a local guide, but was met with nothing but quiet refusals and, Blue thought, wary looks. She’d tried not to let it get to her, but it had been kind of creepy. But he’d soldiered on, helped by Noah’s memories of the mountains, a map, and some information he’d charmed out of the villagers.

To be fair, though, they all had their own lives. It was pretty privileged of her - of all of them - to assume that they could just flash some money and get a local guide to walk away from their life for however long this took.

The thought that the entire village had looked at Gansey in his polos and his $600 hiking boots and decided their lives were more important than showing him around was - well, actually kind of comforting.

They’d been hiking from village to village for days already. Blue’s feet were used to it by now, and as the day wound on, she paid no attention to the typical aches and tiredness. The mountains were too beautiful, the company almost equally distracting at times. Blue lived in the moment, conscious of _finally_ having the adventure she’d dreamed of for so very long.

It was late afternoon when it happened. Gansey had been sneaking worried glances at the sky for awhile now, watching the clouds roll in. There was clearly weather on its way, but the wind hadn’t picked up and Blue hadn’t felt a drop of rain. Still, they’d want to find a place to camp before it started.

She was keeping an eye out for a possible campground, and so was Gansey. Noah was next to her, pointing out a small yellow flower that he particularly liked. They both stopped so Noah could tell a rather involved story about when he’d seen the flower on his last trip, and how it was the exact shade of his sister’s favorite color, so he’d wanted to take a picture, and that’s why his phone was out when the yeti appeared.

Gansey nodded, asked seriously if he thought that the yeti had perhaps been attracted to the brightness of the flowers, and it was then that Blue heard the rumbling.

She thought it was thunder at first, that the skies were about to open up and make them pay for taking too long to find a place to camp. But the sound wasn’t quite right, and at the same moment that Blue realized what it actually was, the rocks began to cover the path ahead of them.

They careened off the steep mountainside above, all different sizes, some big enough to be chunks of the mountain itself, others no bigger than pebbles. It happened so fast there was nothing Blue could do - nothing any of them could do.

Gansey grabbed her arm. “Ronan!”

She could see him just barely, on the other side of the chaos. One of the larger rocks had hit him, knocked him off his feet, and Blue thought she could see blood. He and Adam had been ahead of them, not talking - knowing Adam, he’d been looking for a campsite too.

She couldn’t see Adam at all. Then she couldn’t see Ronan, either, as the path between their two groups filled with littered, unstable rocks. Half the path had been smashed away, the rest covered. It was completely blocked.

All Blue could do was stare at it. It had happened so quickly, and all she could see were visions of what could have happened if they’d been just a little further along. 

“Adam! Ronan!” Gansey sounded frantic.

Noah’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “Shh! You want to start another avalanche?”

Blue wasn’t sure that was how it worked, but it wasn’t like she could correct Noah, either. She felt like she needed to move carefully, speak softly, or risk another rain from above.

A glance upward showed an outcropping hundreds of feet above that looked as if it had crumbled. Just luck, terrible luck, luck that could have killed them.

“We’re fine.” Adam’s voice was pitched low, as if he too was afraid of more of the mountain coming down. 

“But Ronan - “

“He was just stunned,” Adam said. “He’s fine.”

Blue was sure she had seen blood. Gansey relaxed, believing Adam utterly, but Blue knew that Adam would lie if he thought it was necessary.

She decided not to say anything. She would trust Adam, as she had learned to long ago. Either Adam was telling the truth, and Ronan was fine, or he was lying and there was a good reason for it.

“I don’t think we can get over the rocks,” Adam said.

“Don’t even try,” said Blue. She could see how precarious it was, the pathway half destroyed and the rest filled with rocks both large and small that were still settling. Even if Ronan was fine, just stunned, trying to climb over that would be much too dangerous.

Gansey straightened, visibly summoning his confidence. “The locals said this area is riddled with paths like these. I’m certain there’s another way around. Sit tight, and we’ll find one.”

Noah looked petrified at the thought, which was reasonable since they’d all just nearly been killed by a bunch of rocks. Blue felt a cool breeze, and looked up again to note the clouds growing thicker.

“I don’t think we’re going to have the visibility for that,” she said. She couldn’t calculate how soon the storm would begin, but they’d been planning to be safe in their tents by then. The idea of stumbling around the mountains in a storm searching for a goat path that would lead them past the rockfall was not a pleasant one. “I think you two better find a place to camp. We’ll head back to town and get an actual guide.”

“That might take too long,” Gansey said, worry in his voice.

“We’ll be fine,” Adam said. “We both have supplies for the whole trip. We can stay put for a few days. Blue, I think that’s a good plan.”

He had agreed easily, and Ronan still hadn’t said anything. Stunned, maybe, or worse. Adam probably didn’t want to move him. Gansey didn’t seem to have noticed, but Blue had.

“Let’s do it, then. They’ll be fine,” she said, trying to sound as confident as Adam. “And we’ll be back before you know it.”

Gansey still looked worried, but he reluctantly nodded. “We’ll go quickly,” he said.

***

Adam listened to the sounds of his friends leaving, their footsteps shuffling and Noah’s voice quiet as he talked.

The sounds began to fade, and the reality of the situation pressed in on him. They were most of a day’s hike from the nearest sign of human civilization, and days more from the nearest proper hospital. There was nothing around them but mountains and air and a vast, echoing emptiness.

And Ronan was injured.

Adam knelt next to him. “Hey. Can you hear me?”

Ronan blinked up at him. “Uh. Yeah?”

That was a good sign. He’d been hit hard by a falling rock, and his head impacting the ground had knocked him unconscious for a minute or two. But he was awake now, and responding, which was a good sign.

That first minute, with Ronan still on the ground, had made Adam’s heart seize in his chest. He tried not to think about the sight of Ronan’s unmoving body as the dust settled, blood on his face and his clothes and the ground.

Ronan tried to sit up. Adam stopped him with one hand on his shoulder and a very small amount of pressure. “Don’t move, we need to make sure we _can_ move you without something terrible happening.”

What he’d told Gansey at the beginning had been true. Adam wasn’t a specialist in emergency medicine or mountain rescues - he hadn’t even worked in a hospital since his residency. But he still had a medical degree, he was still more than capable of performing basic first aid, and he had some non-hospital experience from a clinic he volunteered at.

It meant that he was, unfortunately, very familiar with the symptoms and treatment of concussions. Ronan had woken up pretty quickly, which was a good sign in general.

“Can you move your toes?” He ran Ronan through a quick checklist, trying to make sure there were no broken bones, no spinal injuries. The clouds above were growing darker. They didn’t have much time - they needed to find shelter as soon as they could, but it would still be better to get a little wet than risk aggravating a serious injury.

He couldn’t be sure Ronan wasn’t lying to him, especially since as Ronan became more aware he started smacking Adam’s hands away, not letting him check for injury. But it seemed - not too bad.

Mild concussion, something to keep an eye on and make sure it didn’t get worse suddenly. A good amount of bruises. A bloody scratch across his cheekbone from a shard of rock. Another, worse wound on his upper arm that needed attention soon.

That was all.

Adam did not let himself enjoy his bone-deep relief for long. The wind was picking up. “Come on,” he said, urging Ronan to his feet. He stayed near, taking Ronan’s arm and refusing to let the other man shrug him off. Ronan was concussed, Adam had no intention of letting him wander around by himself.

He lead them down the trail, looking for a spot to set up camp. After that sudden rockfall, Adam didn’t want to risk any chance that they’d be caught in another, but he wasn’t sure what the best course was. Look for a meadow? They were on a thin mountain path, that wouldn’t be easy. 

He’d done a little reading on mountain expeditions before they left, because Adam liked to be prepared, but he’d never done something like this before.

“There,” Ronan said suddenly. He pointed at a notch in the curve of the path some way ahead, something Adam had nearly missed. It was not quite a cave, but the mountain overhung the path enough to give them some extra shelter from both rockfalls and weather. There was enough space for the tent and maybe a small fire.

He thought Ronan had been carrying firestarting supplies. He hoped that was the case.

Ronan was leading now, picking up the pace as the first drops of rain began to hit the rocky ground. Adam moved faster as well, and they made it to the overhang only slightly damp. It was raining harder with each moment, but Adam was glad to see that due to the tilt of the path, the water ran down and away from their tiny piece of shelter.

“Fuck,” Ronan swore, swaying a little as they finally stopped moving. He seemed to decide it wasn’t worth the effort to stand anymore, shrugging Adam off and lowering himself down into the dust. “ _Fuck._ My head hurts.”

“You’re concussed,” Adam said. “I don’t think it’s too bad, but you’re going to have a headache and be dizzy for a little while. If it gets any worse, tell me. I don’t think you have brain damage, but honestly, it’s hard to tell.”

Ronan stared at him. “What the fuck, Parrish? I’m injured here. Retract your claws.”

Adam blinked, confused, then frowned as he realized what that had sounded like. “No, I meant it’s genuinely difficult to tell without an MRI, especially immediately after. If you start vomiting or having trouble remembering things, tell me. Not that there’s anything I could do out here.”

He found himself slightly offended that Ronan had assumed he’d been trying to insult him. _Adam_ wasn’t the asshole here. He shrugged off his backpack, letting it fall into the dust next to Ronan, and knelt to dig out his medical supplies.

He hadn’t brought a lot, but he knew that he was probably more prepared than a lot of people might have been. Retrieving the small kit, Adam turned back to Ronan.

“I need to see your arm,” he said.

To his surprise, Ronan shrugged his jacket off and extended his arm. For some reason, Adam had been expecting resistance.

The gash wasn’t too bad, but it was bloody and there were bits of rock and dirt embedded in the edges of the wound. It would need to be cleaned, so Adam got his water bottle and a clean cloth from his kit.

“This will probably hurt,” he said, and Ronan shrugged.

“My head already hurts like hell, what difference will it make?”

So Adam got to work. He was careful, because he was careful about everything, but he could still feel every wince and twinge of pain, because Ronan was holding himself incredibly still. There was tension in every bit of him, something Adam could feel the moment he touched Ronan’s skin.

Not that he blamed Ronan. This was not a good situation to be in.

“Everyone else is fine?” Ronan asked, looking away. Maybe he was trying to act like he didn’t care.

“They’re fine,” Adam said as he peeled Ronan’s shirt away from his wound and cleaned it, wiping the blood and debris away, fingers cautious but sure. He’d done this before. “They’re heading back to town to find another way around, or at least to get some help.”

Ronan hissed as Adam pulled the cloth away, now stained with his blood, and replaced it with gauze. To be really safe, Adam thought the wound could do with some stitches, but that wasn’t something he wanted to attempt on a rocky mountain path in the middle of nowhere with limited supplies.

He bandaged up Ronan’s arm, which was unfairly muscled. He boxed, Gansey had said once, and Adam supposed that meant he had to be in decent shape. He did not like being confronted with that fact, however, because Adam already wasn’t sure how this was going to go.

It had never been just the two of them before. Not for longer than a few minutes before Gansey appeared, and now who knew when they would see Gansey again?

“Let me get your face, too,” Adam said. Focus on the problem in front of him, worry about the rest later. There was already a part of his mind listing out the more immediate problems, the ones that did not involve Ronan’s unfair attractiveness or his terrible personality.

They had a tent, at least. Adam had been carrying the one he and Blue had been intending to share - Gansey had the other. They had food, enough for at least a few days. He wasn’t sure they had enough water. He wasn’t sure if the weather would get even worse.

The rain was coming down hard now. They’d been lucky to find this spot when they did.

Ronan allowed Adam to clean the blood from his face and bandage the smaller wound there. He was still tense, and he carefully avoided making eye contact. “Am I gonna scar?”

“I doubt it,” Adam said. “Your arm probably, but your face will be fine.”

“Damn,” Ronan said, “I’ve always wanted a facial scar.”

Adam couldn’t decide if that would have made Ronan more or less attractive. Probably more. The world was a deeply unfair place.

“I’ve got some Tylenol,” Adam said, handing the bottle to Ronan. “It’ll help your headache.”

Ronan took it without complaint, watching Adam strangely. Adam tried to ignore it. He didn’t know how to read Ronan, didn’t know what meaning to take from his intent looks.

Despite Ronan’s evident dislike of him, Adam had never quite been able to write the other man off. Gansey loved him deeply, even when he was apologizing for Ronan’s bad behavior, and Gansey was one of the best people Adam knew. 

“You ok?” Ronan said abruptly. 

“I’m fine,” Adam said, uncertain of the source of the question or how to respond.

“Your face.”

Adam pressed the tips of his fingers lightly against his jawline, which he only then realized was aching - had been for some time. He’d been too focused on Ronan’s injuries to catalog his own, far lesser damage. But his jaw was tender, the feeling familiar from years ago. He’d have a nasty bruise there.

He’d been further from the rockfall than Ronan, but it seemed he’d been caught by some debris anyway. He took a moment to pay attention, to make sure he hadn’t been hurt in any serious way, but no - just bruises, aches and pains. No blood, no broken bones. No concussion.

“I’m fine,” he said again, more certain now. “I’m going to set up the tent before it gets any darker. You need to rest.”

He was expecting resistance, or at least a shitty remark - what he knew of Ronan did not paint the picture of the sort of man comfortable sitting around doing nothing. But Ronan gritted his teeth and nodded, shockingly agreeable though not happy about it.

Adam unloaded the tent and began to set it up. He shot a look at Ronan, who was going through his own pack now, digging out some of their food supplies.

“I’m surprised you’re listening to me,” he said. “I never thought of you as the obedient type.”

“I’m not,” Ronan said with a scowl. “But you’re a fucking doctor, you know more about this shit than me. I don’t want to keel over before Gansey gets back.”

“I’m not really that kind of doctor,” Adam said. He didn’t really expect Ronan to know or care about the different between the sort of doctor people thought of when you said ‘doctor’, a white-coated hospital professional, and Adam’s position shepherding medical research. However, he equally did not expect Ronan’s actual response.

“You work at that clinic, though. Gotta figure you see your fair share of concussions.” Ronan was not looking at him, which seemed deliberate now.

Adam’s brow furrowed. How did Ronan know? Had Gansey told him? How did _Gansey_ know?

“I don’t work there,” Adam said. “I volunteer. They can’t afford to have a doctor on staff.” 

Now Ronan looked at him. “Cheng told me. He thinks you’re a fucking saint, volunteering at a domestic violence shelter.”

Adam didn’t know what to say to that. First of all, he didn’t know how Henry knew, except that Henry seemed to know everything. Second of all, he didn’t know why Henry would tell Ronan. Trying to get him to like Adam, maybe? Trying to smooth things over?

And it didn’t sit right. _He thinks you’re a fucking saint._

It wasn’t about that. It never had been. It was just that Adam saw himself in the children there, in their wariness around adults, the bruises and cuts and concussions he treated.

Patching them up was all he could do. It would never be enough.

“It’s not his business,” Adam said, aware that it was irrational of him to be offended that Henry Cheng had talked him up to someone like Ronan Lynch.

Why? Did Ronan dislike him that much, so much that Henry had thought it necessary to make him seem better than he was?

Or was there some other reason?

Ronan shrugged like it didn’t matter at all. He wasn’t looking at Adam anymore. “Whatever. At least you’re making use of that fancy degree.”

Somehow, Ronan’s dismissive reaction was miles more palatable than any nonsense about what a saint Adam was. He felt himself relaxing, when he hadn’t even realized he’d been tense.

Ronan knew where he’d come from. Gansey had told him, back before he knew that Adam would rather no one know, and so Adam had never had to tell him. Once, when Ronan had been a shitty teenager, that had felt like a betrayal. Now it just felt like a relief.

Adam had bared his secrets too many times in his life. To friends, to lovers, to therapists. He hated it, that moment when they looked at him and he saw pity in their eyes. 

Pity had never been something he’d needed to worry about from Ronan Lynch.

For a long time, Adam had known that there was more to Ronan than the standoffish, needling exterior he presented to the world - to Adam, at least. In addition to Gansey’s regard, there was the dedication he had to his family, despite the tragedies that had befallen them. And there was his art, a strange and magical thing.

Ronan was not a commercial sort of artist. He didn’t need to make money. He made whatever was in his head, impossible structures of wire and glass and metal, sculptures like something out of a dream. Adam had seen his work, had been to one of the shows he’d done - an installation at a tiny gallery, taking up nearly all the space, more like walking into a maze than looking at art. Around every corner there was something new, something that would catch your eye. It wasn’t all easy to look at, but it was all interesting.

He’d been careful to go when Ronan wouldn’t be there, not wanting to encounter the other man and his disdain. But he’d wanted to know. He’d wanted a glimpse at the sort of person Ronan might be to someone else, someone he actually liked.

He still didn’t know what to make of any of it. But there was far more to Ronan than Ronan had ever let him see, and though Adam had long since given up on the thought that Ronan might want him to see more, now he wasn’t sure.

He snapped one of the tentpoles together and slid it in. Ronan dragged a package of trail mix and some dried soup mixes out of his backpack. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t needle Adam, didn’t mock him - but when Adam looked up, for a moment he caught Ronan’s sharp ice-blue gaze.

He didn’t know what to think of that.

Maybe this would change things.

***

They’d been stuck in the village for a day and a half now.

Gansey was worried - of course he was. Ronan and Adam were alone in the mountains, possibly injured. It wasn’t until they were halfway back down the path that he’d realized Ronan had said nothing, and began to worry even more. But of all of them, Adam was the most capable if Ronan truly was injured. 

And what could he do about it? Nothing. After a day spent cajoling and bribing, they had finally found someone willing to lead them around the rockfall, but he wasn’t willing to leave the village until the storm had let up.

The rain was still falling. Gansey could either try not to worry about it or he could have a full-on nervous breakdown, and only one of those choices would be of any use.

Of course, trying not to worry about it wasn’t working very well.

He sipped his tea, looking out the window of the central gathering room. The tea house they were staying at was the only one in the village, and not at all fancy. This wasn’t a very popular hiking location, nor was it the best season for it. They’d looked at Gansey’s party askance when they’d first arrived, and when he and Blue and Noah stumbled back into town, bedraggled from the storm that had unleashed its fury during their hike back, the proprietor had simply looked as if this was exactly what he had expected.

Gansey had never let that sort of thing stop him before, and he wouldn’t now. But it was difficult sitting here, difficult not knowing whether Ronan and Adam were all right.

They were. They had to be. Ronan had been hiking and camping with Gansey often enough, and even gone on a few more extreme trips on his own. And Adam was the most sensible person Gansey knew.

“I wonder if I ought to be more worried about them killing each other than anything,” Gansey said, staring down at his tea.

“I doubt it,” Blue said. She was draped across a cushioned bench to his left, ignoring her own tea. Noah was playing with her hair, petting it gently. Gansey wished very much that he had the right to do that, but he was fairly certain that any attempt would end with him pulling back a bloody stump.

“They don’t get along very well,” Gansey said. Maybe she hadn’t noticed? But then, they’d mostly been avoiding each other. Besides a few sharp comments from Adam and a few ones from Ronan, no conflict had erupted. 

“I think they get along better than they realize,” Noah said, cryptically. “They’ll be okay. We just gotta get to them before their food runs out, or it starts snowing, or they get attacked and eaten by Himalayan murder yaks.”

“Those don’t exist,” Gansey said.

“You can’t say that,” said Blue. “You think Nessie is real.”

Gansey drew himself up. “I believe there is still a _chance_ plesiosaurs exist. After rediscovering the coelacanth, it’s entirely likely. But is there one in Loch Ness? That’s far less likely. So no, I don’t think Nessie is real.”

Noah was grinning. “Man, your classes must be a blast. I’m kind of bummed I dropped out of college now. Plus, you’ve got that hot professor thing going on. Right, Blue?”

Gansey flushed. He tried to act like he didn’t care, but he couldn’t help the way his eyes flickered to Blue, judging her reaction, hoping for some clue. He thought her ears had gone a little pink. That was a good sign, right? Maybe?

Their eyes caught for just a moment, and then Blue looked away, frowning.

“We should try to get a call through again. It looks like the rain’s letting up a little.”

The phone lines here barely worked when the weather was bad, and Gansey had been hoping to get in contact with Henry - or at least Henry’s employee, who had met them at the airport and smoothed their way the first few days. It was unlikely he could do anything, but Gansey felt remiss not letting him know about the difficulties they’d run into.

Besides, there was nothing else he could do right now except wait. Trying to get in contact with Henry was _something_ , at least.

Noah perked up. “I’ll give it a try!” He was up in a moment, brimming with energy that never seemed to go away. Gansey enjoyed it very much.

Blue did too. She was grinning again, watching him wander off to bother the owner of the tea house into letting him try the phone.

He liked that smile, unguarded but still a little sharp-edged. Blue never let him get away with anything, and Gansey could not explain why that was so appealing to him. Why she was, besides the obvious (her bright eyes, her unique and vibrant style, her wild hair, her perfect lips that Gansey would give anything to kiss).

“I thought you’d be more worried about Adam,” he said, and she shrugged.

“He can take care of himself. And he’s not alone.”

Gansey thought she was worried despite her words, but who wouldn’t be worried when your oldest friend has gone missing in the mountains?

They weren’t dating. She wasn’t seeing anyone right now. He knew that, because he’d asked Adam. He had thought he’d been subtle about it, but Adam had responded with an amused look and an admission that while they’d dated once, as teenagers, they were far beyond that now.

It had made Gansey think he might have a chance.

He still thought he might now, but he also hated himself for it a little. His two best friends were trapped on the other side of a rockslide, possibly injured, and he was here safe and sound and thinking about Blue Sargent’s lips.

But he couldn’t help it.

“You should try not to stress yourself out,” Blue said, looking at him, a wrinkle between her eyes. She was worried, yes. About him. “There’s nothing we can do until the rain stops. Adam’s got his head on straight, Ronan’s not as much of an idiot as he’d like us all to think, and they’ve got plenty of food and water. They’ll be _fine_ , Gansey.”

She was right. He knew that. And somehow, hearing the same things from her mouth that he’d been thinking earlier was far more comforting than his thoughts had been.

He leaned back against the tea house cushions and sighed, letting some of the stress wash out of him.

“If you weren’t here, I’d likely have run straight back out into the storm by now,” Gansey said. “You are a true gift, Jane.”

She did not scowl at the name like she had at the beginning. She did not give another small lecture on how he didn’t get to name her. Instead, a smile flickered onto her lips.

“You’re the reason we’re all here. I can’t let our fearless leader go running off to do something stupid.”

For a moment, Gansey let himself feel thankful for his friends - for Ronan, for Adam, even for Noah, who had mostly come along because he thought it would be fun. For Blue.

If he was really the reason they were all here, he was an incredibly lucky man. Even if it did mean that he had lead some of them into danger.

“Perhaps I should have taken you all on a safer expedition,” he said. “Point Pleasant, again, or indeed - Loch Ness.”

“What fun would that have been?” said Blue. “You got our hopes up with all this yeti stuff. Mothman just wouldn’t compare.”

Gansey smiled. She was so easy to talk to, and he only got distracted by the perfect shape of her lips occasionally.

“I can’t believe you actually get paid to teach classes about this kind of stuff.”

“Cryptozoology is a legitimate field,” Gansey said. He’d heard that sort of thing far too many times to be offended by it. “But I also teach history.”

He loved history too. All the tales there, the mysteries that remained to be solved - that may never be solved. As a young man, Gansey had been obsessed with the tale of Owain 

Blue was looking at him. He couldn’t quite read the look in her eyes. “Noah’s right. I bet your classes are really interesting.”

Gansey felt himself flush, which was silly, because it was only a compliment about his teaching style. Or his interests. Or something like that. Whatever it was, it didn’t indicate any particular interest in him as a person.

Probably. He found himself leaning in towards Blue a bit anyway, drawn in by whatever subtle gravitational pull she had.

“I hope the trip has been worthwhile for you,” he said. “I did worry about taking you and Adam away from your jobs-”

Blue waved a hand, brushing the concern off as if it were nothing. “I hate my job.”

It was so blunt that Gansey didn’t know how to respond. He could only look at her, wide-eyed.

“I’m a scientist, but they treat me like a glorified research assistant,” she explained. “Adam’s the only decent one there.” She looked away then, hesitated, and spoke again. “I got a job offer. I’d be working on a preservation site in the Amazon. It’s perfect, and I’m gonna take it, but -”

Gansey let her take her time, let her put her feelings into words. He could see it now, Blue in the rainforest, living the way she wanted to. Helping the forest recover, wild and free and beautiful.

“I don’t know how to tell Adam,” she finally said. “He’s not happy there either, but he doesn’t want to admit it. I’m not gonna stay for him, but we’ve been friends for years. I can’t just ditch him out of nowhere, either.”

Her clear affection for Adam made Gansey’s heart squeeze in his chest. He knew what that was like, to love a friend so deeply but know that your path was elsewhere. It had been so difficult to leave Ronan, back when they were both young and Ronan’s misery was still fresh. But he’d had to, knowing that staying would only leave them both miserable.

“I think he would want you to follow your own path,” Gansey said. He reached out and took her hand. She didn’t pull away. 

“Coming here has made me understand how much I want this,” Blue said, her eyes meeting his. “I don’t want to be stuck in a lab somewhere. I want to be out in the world. I want to be part of things.”

The passion in her eyes, her voice, was so clear. There was nothing in the world that Gansey could do except lean in and kiss her.

She brought her hand up to touch his cheek, and she kissed him back, and for a few moments there was nothing in the world but the two of them.

When they finally separated, Gansey cleared his throat, finding his voice. He was still holding her hand. Her cheeks were flushed, her lips soft.

“Jane,” he said, “when we return, before you leave for the Amazon, would you do me the honor of allowing me to take you on a date?”

Blue laughed, and rolled her eyes, and kissed him again.

Gansey figured that was probably a yes.

***

Sleeping next to Adam had turned out to be about as difficult as Ronan had expected it to be. The tent they shared was built for two, but Ronan was tall and Adam was not small, and that meant there was only a few inches of space outside of what their sleeping bags took up.

Ronan could blame it on the concussion. The Tylenol helped, but his head still hurt, which of course made it hard to sleep. But that would be a lie, because it was really just Adam.

Even though he slept with his back to Adam, he could hear Adam’s breathing, hear the slight sounds he made when he moved in his sleep. Adam didn’t talk in his sleep, he didn’t snore, but still Ronan found it impossible to ignore him.

And even worse, somehow in the night Ronan always seemed to turn in his sleep, and he would wake to see Adam, face relaxed and vulnerable while he slept. Then Ronan could not stop himself from looking, from counting the freckles on Adam’s tan skin or admiring the way his eyelashes lay against his cheeks.

They’d only spent two nights in the tent, but Ronan didn’t know how long he’d be able to stay sane.

The storm had never lifted for more than a couple hours. The last time, they’d gone back to the rockfall and tried to see if there was a path over. But it was too loose, too slippery from the rain. Far too dangerous. And Ronan was still recovering.

His arm hurt, his head hurt, though both less than they had. Adam now had a colorful bruise on his face where he’d been hit by the rock. They were both in decent shape, but all they could do was mark time.

They’d talked about it on the first day. Adam was brutally practical, puncturing all of Ronan’s ideas, which had admittedly not been well-thought-through in the first place.

They needed to stay on this path, because any departure of it would mean that Gansey would not know where to find them. Their own maps were woefully inadequate. The rockfall couldn’t be gotten over or around.

They were stuck. It was already driving Ronan a little stir-crazy.

This was their third day. The rain, which had seemed to be lessening during the night, was back, along with enough wind that Ronan was glad their tent had shelter. He supposed they were incredibly lucky, all things considered - they had a tent, sleeping bags, food, water, matches. People knew where they were, even if they couldn’t get out and no one could get to them.

It could be worse.

Then again, he was stuck here with Adam Parrish, who he’d dreamed of naked on multiple occasions but who couldn’t stand him, so it could be a lot better, too.

The sun would be going down soon, which meant that Ronan would have to climb into that tiny tent and sleep next to Adam again, inches away and unable to touch. He hated it, he loved it, his skin shivered in anticipation.

He needed to get ahold of his hormones. He couldn’t remember it being this bad even when he was a teenager, and now he was a grown-ass adult and should be able to control himself.

Then again, controlling himself was not something Ronan had ever been terribly good at.

He settled down next to their little fire, feeding it a few more sticks. Adam had found a stream nearby, which is why they were fine on water, but they had to boil everything they drank. Ronan placed the small cooking pot on the fire, filled it with water, and sat back to wait. At least he could be useful, even if he wasn’t up to any real labor yet.

But then again, what would real labor be in this situation? Building a shitty little house for him and Adam to live in until help came?

The saddest thing was how oddly appealing that thought was.

Adam ducked into their little shelter. The rocky overhang had just enough room for their tent and the fire. His hair was wet, his bruise stood out stark against his skin, and he looked tired.

Even so, Ronan found it hard to look away from him.

“I think the storm’s blowing itself out,” Adam said. “It might clear up tonight.”

“But it’ll be too dark to do anything,” Ronan said. “Anyway, I’m not getting my hopes up. I’m pretty sure you didn’t learn meteorology at that fancy doctor school.”

Adam rolled his eyes, but he didn’t seem offended. It was an improvement. 

For years, Ronan had not known how to express to Adam that it wasn’t that he didn’t like Adam - at least not anymore. It was just that he is, and has always been, an asshole. His friends, like Gansey, didn’t let it bother them because that wasn’t all they saw. But it was all that Adam had ever seen, so of course he hadn’t liked Ronan.

But that seemed like it might not be true anymore. Adam didn’t bristle when Ronan said something stupid and shitty because he couldn’t stop himself. He even laughed sometimes, or shot back with something equally as shitty.

Ronan tried not to hope, but he didn’t seem able to stop himself from that, either.

“I’ve got more oatmeal packets and dried fruit for dinner,” Adam said. “I’m gonna get my hopes up, because frankly I’m sick of eating watery oatmeal.”

Ronan could not disagree. “I’ve still got half a chocolate bar.” He dragged his pack over, digging through it until he found the remains of the bar. Snapping it in half, he passed one of the pieces to Adam.

Adam’s fingers brushed Ronan’s. Ronan thought he saw a hint of a smile. He’d seen Adam smile before - at Blue, at Gansey, even once at Noah. Never at him.

“Thanks,” Adam said, and settled into the easy routine of cooking their dinner, such as it was.

They ate and Ronan looked out at the rain. It did seem to be letting up, the wind a little less furious. It was hard to tell what the clouds looked like now that the sun was going down, but Ronan found himself agreeing with Adam’s earlier assessment. 

“Couple more days, and we’ll be back on the yeti hunt,” he said.

“You think we’ll keep going? Our supplies are getting pretty low, but I guess Gansey might bring more.”

Their original plan had been to spend a week hiking, heading out into the mountains and then coming back. Wasting three days of it sitting in one place changed things, but this was Gansey’s trip, not really theirs. If he wanted to keep going, Ronan would support him. He always had.

“Is your work gonna get pissed if you don’t come back on time?” The benefit of being both an artist and independently wealthy was that Ronan could pretty much do whatever he wanted without worrying about schedules. That wasn’t the case for Adam, he knew.

“Maybe. Or they might not even notice.” Adam’s voice was as dry as the desert.

Ronan didn’t know all that much about Adam’s job. He knew the basics - biomedical research for a pharmaceutical corporation, requiring a lot of education and a lot of pure intelligence. But Ronan, though not stupid, had not even bothered to graduate high school. When Gansey talked about the things Adam actually did at work, it tended to go right over his head - though, to be fair, he was pretty sure it went over Gansey’s head to.

Ronan had always assumed that Adam must love his job, considering the amount of time he spent at it. Suddenly he wasn’t so sure.

“Trouble in paradise?” he said, snapping off a piece of chocolate and popping it in his mouth. Casual, so casual. It wasn’t like he desperately wanted to see a part of Adam that no one else had.

Adam was silent for a long moment, looking into the fire.

“I thought I knew what I wanted, but I’m not so sure now.” He shook his head. “That sounds melodramatic. I just mean - well, I grew up poor. I wanted to be successful, I wanted to get out of there. I wanted enough money to never have to worry anymore. And now I have that, or I will once my student loans are paid off, but I’m not sure I’m doing what I want to do anymore.”

“What do you want to do?” It was the obvious question.

Adam smiled. Not the pleased, happy one that Ronan wanted to see, but a wry little thing, unamused at himself. “I’m not sure.” He looked at Ronan, the muted blue of his eyes still visible in the fading light. “How did you know that you wanted to be an artist?”

Ronan shrugged, uncomfortable more because of Adam’s close attention than anything else. “I didn’t know shit, Parrish.”

He thought back to those days when Gansey was in college, when Ronan was alone at the Barns. He’d mostly been able to keep himself out of the worst kinds of trouble, though he knew now he’d still been healing then. He’d still drank too much sometimes and drove too fast other times, went looking for fights and didn’t let anyone close. He’d thought that he was better because he didn’t think he wanted to die anymore, but that hadn’t actually been true until years later.

“I just got bored.” That was what it came to, in the end. “I was out in the middle of nowhere, and once I’d fixed up all the fences and barns and shit and got things running I had too much time on my hands. So I started making stuff.”

It had been a whim at first. There was always scrap around the Barns, broken tools and bits of wood or metal or glass. He’d had a pile of it that needed to be taken to the dump, and instead he’d looked at it one afternoon when all the chores were done and decided to do something else with it.

Then he’d just never stopped. And eventually it felt like it was time to leave, to see different things, and he’d hired people to take care of the farm and gone to the city, where his only friend was, where his art had attracted attention instead of just being the weird shit an antisocial farmer did in his time off.

He still went back. A lot, for months at a time. But there was more to his world now.

“Fuck, I don’t know. I just wanted to do it, and so I did.”

Adam laughed, that wry twist still on his lips. “If only it were that easy for all of us.”

“It could be. You have money now. If you’re sick of your job, you can walk away. Find something else.”

It seemed to simple to Ronan, so clear, but Adam looked at him like he’d never even considered the option. Like no one had ever suggested it to him.

“I’ve talked to a few recruiters,” Adam said slowly, brows wrinkled like he was thinking hard. “But I don’t want to go work for another corporation. I want to… I don’t know. Help people, I guess.” He was quiet for a long moment. “I could just leave.” He said it like he was testing the idea out. “Without having anything lined up.”

“Can’t believe no one’s told you to do that before.”

“Gansey wouldn’t think to suggest something like that, Blue probably thinks I’d never even consider it.” Adam smiled, this time more sincere, and Ronan couldn’t look away. “And I’ve never been good at making friends, so I haven’t told this to anyone else.”

It was true that Ronan didn’t really know any other close friends of Adam. Like Ronan himself, it seemed like Adam was picky about the people he let close. Henry and Adam got along, he knew, but he’d never heard of them hanging out without Gansey.

It was flattering to think that Adam was willing to talk to him about this - of all people. But at the same time it didn’t feel right, the idea that he had so few people close to him.

It was hard to believe that anyone could look at Adam Parrish and not want to know him.

“Sorry for being such a dick to you,” Ronan said, before he even realized he was going to say it. Apologizing wasn’t something he did - well, ever, really, so even he was shocked at himself. Adam looked no less surprised, his eyes widening before he managed to get control of himself.

Why the fuck had he said that? Somewhere in the back of Ronan’s brain he’d just been hoping that this new closeness could slide them right past all the shitty things Ronan had said and done, that together they could forget it ever happened and start fresh. If he just never mentioned it, it’d be fine.

But apparently that wasn’t how it was going to be.

“You really were a dick,” Adam said, and oddly that was more comforting than most of the possible responses Ronan could think of. He didn’t want forgiveness, not really. Maybe he just wanted to mark that things were different now. “You must have hated me. I kind of thought you still did.”

_Until now _remained unspoken, but Ronan thought it was there anyway.__

__He shifted, already uncomfortable. Ronan had never really liked talking about his feelings, or talking at all. But he’d gotten better at it, because he had to, because that was just what happened when you stopped being an angry, self-centered teenager._ _

__“I didn’t hate you.” He was unable to look at Adam. “I was just a real shitty kid who hated that you and Gansey got along so well.”_ _

__“You were shitty,” Adam agreed, and Ronan found his lips twitching into a smile despite himself. Adam wasn’t blaming him, didn’t sound angry - it was just a statement, a simple acknowledgement of the truth. Adam wasn’t interested in cutting him any slack, which was fine with Ronan. He’d always hated it when people did that, even when it was Gansey. He’d hated the way they’d do it because they felt bad for him._ _

___Oh, Ronan’s just like that because he lost his parents. It’s terrible, really. Who wouldn’t act out?_ _ _

__And then they would forgive him or they’d write him off. Adam didn’t seem interested in doing either. He was watching Ronan, the firelight reflecting off the interesting angles of his face in a way that was difficult to look away from now that Ronan had given in to his desire to look in the first place._ _

__They were close. Their little piece of shelter was small enough that Adam was only a foot or so away from him, almost close enough for Ronan to feel the warmth of his body._ _

__“I was shittier to you than I should’ve been.” Ronan shrugged. “You just showed up out of nowhere, all smart and pretty, and Gansey couldn’t stop talking about you.”_ _

__“Pretty?” Adam said, and he was really smiling now, just as brilliant and distracting as Ronan at expected._ _

__“I said what I said.” Ronan glowered. It hadn’t been a mistake. Ronan never lied, but sometimes he had trouble being entirely honest. In this moment, he was choosing honesty._ _

__And Adam didn’t seem to dislike it._ _

__“I thought pretty badly of you,” Adam said, a quiet admission. He looked away from Ronan, at the fire. “Gansey was the second friend I ever made, after Blue. I was afraid he’d see all the things I hated about myself, and I’d lose him. Then you came to visit, and you did see all of those things. I could’ve tried harder, but I was happy to let you be a jerk if it meant Gansey wouldn’t listen to you.”_ _

__It was convoluted logic, but somehow it seemed entirely appropriate for Adam. So caught up in the tangle of his own thoughts that he wasn’t able to see how valuable he was._ _

__“We were both kind of a mess,” Adam said, and looked at Ronan again. His gaze had a weight to it that made Ronan’s skin prickle._ _

__“Were? I still am.” Ronan couldn’t look away, and so he saw Adam smile again, an easy and beautiful thing. “Hey. You fine with starting fresh?”_ _

__“Yeah,” Adam said. “I think so. Maybe we can be friends this time.”_ _

__“I don’t want to be friends,” Ronan said, and he kissed Adam._ _

__He took his time, closing the distance between them with a slow certainty, giving Adam more than enough time to move away, to stop him, to quietly refuse. And that would have been fine. Ronan might have been holding a torch for longer than he’d like to admit, but he could take a no if given one. Adam deserved the world._ _

__But there was no quiet refusal, not a hint of no. Adam placed a hand on his arm, long fingers feather-light, and let Ronan kiss him. Then he sighed, a soft sound that went directly to Ronan’s dick, and pressed closer to kiss him back._ _

__Adam’s lips were chapped but soft, and he tasted just a little like chocolate. Ronan’s senses were on fire, taking in everything he could, because some part of him was sure it would never happen again._ _

__But it did. They separated to breathe, and Adam smiled at him again, and they kissed, and they kissed. Later, after the sun went down, they put out the fire and climbed into their shared tent. They told truths in the dark, and Ronan kissed his way down Adam’s neck, nipped the freckles dotting his shoulders, let Adam trace his tattoo._ _

__The next morning dawned sunny and clear._ _

____

***

It was great to finally be moving again. Noah had been on the verge of some serious cabin fever, stuck in that little tea house with just Gansey and Blue for company. Not that they weren’t both great, but they were so occupied with each other, and Noah could only handle watching awkward flirting for so long before it got gross.

Okay, that wasn’t true. It had remained entertaining right up until Blue had come out of Gansey’s room this morning, clearly having spent the night there. Noah had attempted to give her a high five and his congratulations, but she’d blushed and glowered until he decided his own safety was more important.

So staying with them had actually been kind of great. What had been even better was managing to get through to Henry Cheng on the patchy, distant telephone connection. He’d given Henry a brief rundown of the rockfall, then spent the next twenty minutes gossiping about Gansey and Blue, and apparently Ronan’s unrequited crush on Adam.

Henry had sworn him to secrecy, of course. Noah mostly just wanted to know where he got all these secrets. The most plausible explanation, of course, was that Henry was an international super spy who mainly used his talents to monitor his friends’ love lives.

Well, now Noah had Blue-and-Gansey-related gossip that he didn’t. And they were all outside, hiking in the sun.

They had a guide this time, a local man charmed by Gansey’s money who was leading them along a tiny goat path through the hills. He had assured them, through the language barrier, that this would intersect the trail they’d taken before somewhere past the rockfall, and then they would just need to backtrack and find Ronan and Adam. Who were fine. Probably.

The sky after the storm was clear and cloudless, though there was still a bite to the air. The ground was a little damp, too, with puddles scattered all along the path. Noah liked it.

Noah hiked a little behind Blue and Gansey, who were almost side by side, quietly chatting as they walked. Noah could hear part of it - Gansey telling an involved tale of some ancient king from Wales. He hadn’t known Gansey that long, but he already knew that was about as close to flirting as the man got. He grinned to himself.

The sun was high in the sky when they found the path they’d taken - or at least that’s what their guide said it was. Noah couldn’t tell the difference between one skinny treacherous mountain path and another. But the guide seemed sure, and Gansey was confident in his skills, so they followed it.

Just when Noah was beginning to feel absolutely certain that this was all a trap - either a setup for a practical joke or a setup for a hideous murder - they turned a corner and saw a small tent set up under a rocky overhang.

“Ronan! Adam!” Gansey called, before checking himself suddenly and glancing upwards. Noah looked up too. Another rockfall would not be very chill at all.

Everything seemed fine. They continued forward, at a faster pace now. Ahead of them, a tall figure that was clearly Ronan hurried down the path, followed closely by a thinner figure. They were alive - which of course Noah had always knew they would be, but it was nice to have proof.

The two groups reunited. Everything was hugs and exclamations, breathless stories and Gansey worrying. Blue’s face shown with relief, Ronan informed them all he’d been nearly out of food and about to eat Adam.

And at that, Adam laughed. For a moment, Gansey looked startled, but he brushed the surprise aside in favor of checking Ronan’s injuries, nicely bandaged and apparently not very serious.

Noah didn’t brush it aside, though. He narrowed his eyes and watched Ronan and Adam intently, remembering everything Henry had told him over the phone.

He didn’t know either of them all that well, but he knew intimacy when he saw it. He knew that they hadn’t stood that close before, that Adam hadn’t looked like Ronan as if he was too impossibly perfect to be real. 

Now he had two bits of gossip to tell Henry. This trip was turning out great.

Once things had settled and they’d helped Ronan and Adam pack up their camp, Gansey sighed.

“I suppose we’d better cut this trip short,” he said. “We’ve only met with one disaster after another, and Ronan is injured.”

“Fuck, I’ll be fine,” Ronan said, “Parrish patched me up.”

There was a hint of a smile on Adam’s lips, but he still shook his head. “No, he’s right. You’re still having headaches. I would be much more comfortable if we went somewhere with better medical care while you recovered, just in case.”

Noah expected more argument, and clearly so did Gansey, but Ronan just shrugged and scowled. Even Blue raised her eyebrows at that.

“Perhaps we can come back another time,” Gansey said, attempting to keep an optimistic tone to his voice. He was clearly disappointed, though, and as they started down the trail to return to the village, Noah patted him on the back.

“No worries, boss,” he said. “I might have a lead on the skunk ape, down in Florida. A buddy of mine was boating in the Everglades and he swears he saw something. He was pretty high at the time, but he’s not a liar! We should check it out. Mountains suck anyway.”

Gansey did not seem comforted, but Noah continued, recounting the tale he’d heard (secondhand, but Gansey didn’t need to know that) as they hiked. He was right in the middle of the best part (when Preston had accidentally knocked the beer overboard and they had to decide who would go get them and who would try to distract any alligators) when Gansey froze.

“Noah, _shhh_ ,” Blue said at the exact same time.

Noah looked in the same direction they were all staring, and then he saw it.

On the mountainside across from them, a couple hundred feet away, there was a figure. Large, bipedal, covered in brown hair. He recognized it instantly, because he’d seen it before. This time he didn’t go for his phone.

They stood in spellbound silence as it made its way across the hillside. It paused only once, looking their way for a long moment. Noah was sure it was them, was acknowledging them somehow. Then it disappeared between two boulders and was gone.

Blue let out a soft exhale, and Noah glanced down to see that she’d taken Gansey’s hand, holding it firmly in her own. Ronan and Adam stood together, Ronan’s shoulder pressed against Adam, both their faces alight in mingled wonder and disbelief.

Gansey’s eyes were wide, his face blank for a long moment before it split into a smile of pure joy. “Did you see that?”

“We saw it,” Blue said, amazement in her voice as well. “We all saw it.”

“We didn’t get any pictures. No video either,” Adam said, but he didn’t sound disappointed. Noah didn’t think any of them felt disappointed about it - even for Gansey, it had never been about the proof.

“That’s all right,” Gansey said, as Noah knew he would. “Seeing it was enough.” He laughed then, delighted and open. “I can’t believe it!”

“Believe it,” Blue said, squeezing his hand before letting it go. She was smiling. They were all smiling. Their guide watched them all, unimpressed - he’d probably seen it a hundred times, Noah figured - but even he looked a little pleased.

“Let’s go home,” Gansey said, and there was not a trace of disappointment left in him. “I must tell Henry everything.”

And so they all followed him down the trail, full of the joy that came from the impossible.


End file.
